Irish man James McGee takes to the court in flushing Meadows, New York this evening in the opening round of the US Open against Kazak Alexander Nedovyesov.
The Dubliner is currently ranked 194th in the ATP World Tour rankings dropping down from a career high 188th in July, and he is the only Irish person in the top 200 of the tennis rankings.
McGee, who was educated in Belvedere College Dublin, has been struggling along at some of the lowest rungs of professional tennis trying to climbing up the rankings and following his win over China’s Ze Zhang on Friday, will play at the US Open, his first appearance at a Major.
In that match, McGee lost the opening set 6-0, but he stormed back in dramatic fashion to win the next two sets and seal a place in the opening round this evening.
A brief history of his career:
McGee, who turned pro in 2008, has travelled around the world in search of ATP ranking points. He has competed mainly in the Futures and Challenger events, which would be the lower end of the professional spectrum. He has won four Futures single events and has been runner up on five other occasions. He has also represented Ireland in the Davis Cup, just look at his reaction when he wins the 1st rubber in a match against Hungary.
Video via mtsztenisz.
Last year while the US Open was taking place, McGee was in Gabon competing in a Futures tournament, which he won, earning him $2,160 in prize money. Not bad, but not great when you consider he caught a parasite while over there that kept him out of action for two months afterward.
To put his feat of qualifying for the US Open into context, he earned $35,750 for winning his three qualifying matches, which is a third of what he had earned in his whole professional career before this.
His next opponent:
The Castleknock man faces Kazak opponent Alexander Nedovyesov, in what will be a stern test for the rising Irish man. Nedovyesov is ranked 108 in the world and has been threatening to break back into the top century and return to his previous ranking of 72.
2013 was a good year for the Kazak earning a career high of $134,549 and competing in numerous events and so far this year he reached the second round of the French Open where lost against Tomáš Berdych despite going a set up.
The odds:
According to our good friends over at Ladbrokes, McGee is a slight underdog for his match this evening.
James McGee 11/10
Alexander Nedovyesov 4/6
You can watch McGee on the court at 8pm this evening on SkySports 3.
